Again
by droidgirl
Summary: What happens when the Doctor goes back for Rose when he comes to his senses. Journey's End spoilers, part of my 'Hands' series.


The first thing the Doctor noticed when he opened the doors of the TARDIS in the parallel universe was the fist flying towards his nose. As he attempted to duck, which only ended up with the side of his head getting thunked instead, he heard his own voice thunder,

"That's for breaking Rose's heart. Again."

The fist was flying once more. The Doctor's arms came up defensively as he winced at his slightly sore head. A human would have been out cold by now.

"That's for leaving her here, stuck. Again."

This time, he got a smack on his arm. He peeked out, but he really shouldn't have. Another fist got him right in the left eye this time.

"And this is for leaving me here with no ID, Visa Card, means of transport and in general, assuming all kinds of things. You inconsiderate git."

"OEI!" The Doctor finally yelled. Apparently, not so much a Donna-ism. More like a him-ism. Interesting.

The other Him stopped mid-fist, the expression on his face past the "Oncoming Storm" mode, into the "Hurricane Already Here" mode. That was when he caught sight of Rose standing to the side, looking slightly perturbed, but not exactly rushing in to stop Doctor 2.0.

Seriously, what was he supposed to call HIM?

"Oh, don't look at me. I made him promise he'd do this." Rose said, smiling sweetly when she noticed his mute gaze of confusion. "But I suppose you've got him in the eye darling. So that's alright."

Doctor 2.0 gave him a smug smile and lowered his fist before going to stand next to Rose, slinging an arm around her, casually - possessively too, the Doctor noted. He couldn't keep that flare of jealousy from sparking inside his belly.

"That's the anger I mentioned then," he said snidely. Any weapon he had to undermine his double, his rival.

"Anger? Are you kidding? He's so sweet, he parked the TARDIS the other day just so he could help some geese cross the street without getting killed." Rose scoffed. "Oh by the way, you're trespassing on our private Time And Relative Dimensions In Space machine."

The Doctor deflated like a balloon and looked around. True enough, his TARDIS was within another TARDIS.

"This would be grown from the coral flusher you ripped off my toilet when you realized what I was going to do." he said, another attempt to discredit 2.0 for his decidedly dishonorable behaviour.

"I thought you said he gave it to you!" Rose said, turning to the man holding her. The Doctor felt the beginnings of a grin, only to have it snap the opposite way in the next minute when she added

"That's fantastic! I can't believe you took his flusher!"

"Stroke of genius that was," 2.0 said proudly, chest puffed out like an idiot.

"Yes, yes that was...quite a terrible few...weeks." The Doctor said glumly. On top of losing Rose, again, and losing Donna, he had to contend with a washroom that would not flush for some time. His beloved ship was far too mad at him for his fuckwittage to grow a flush back immediately.

"Alright, first things first...well, not really first things, since the first thing was to beat you to death, preferably with a shovel, but there was no shovel, so my fists were fine I think. Aaaand of course, the shovel might have actually killed you, I think, in retrospect. I don't know how well blood gets out of the TARDIS walls, and that might just be slightly messy don't you think? No, my fists did just fine, and Time Lord fists don't bruise that easy either, you should know what with you being one and everything, and did you know? I met the version of ME here. It was a grand old time! Rose adored him. Of course, seeing as he's me, of course she would. He was travelling with the Martha Jones here! She's not a doctor though, more like a Podiatrist, which is sort of a doctor-ish thing I suppose, but sounds gross. We have them over for tea every few months. Oh, and there is in fact, a Rose in this universe, except her name is Billie Piper and..."

Did he really talk that much? The Doctor was slightly stunned by the monologue.

"Where was I? Oh yes. Why have you risked destroying two worlds to be here? Is the other side in trouble? Daleks? Cyberman? Mutant Furbys? Never did trust those things."

"Er...no. I'm here to...well I'm here to grovel." The Doctor finally said, honestly and humbly.

"Pardon?" 2.0 asked, sounding surprised.

"I think he means grovel at me Einstein." Rose said, poking at him. "Nice gesture, fifty years after the event I must say."

"FIFTY?" he practically yelled in a distinctly un-dignified, un-Time-Lordy manner. "I just left the two of you a month ago! And that's not even possible is it? The two of you should be old by now if it were fifty years. Maybe even dead. Preferably, him dead, you alive."

"Riiiight...so the odd thing about regeneration is, sometimes, it takes time for certain things to function properly. Like say, a second heart." 2.0 said helpfully.

"Also, Bad Wolf here. Yeah, your stupid TARDIS sort of changed me back on Satellite Five apparently. Which is fine considering I wouldn't want some little tramp to get any ideas that he's with some old bag she can usurp." Rose said.

"Oh you could become a Slitheen and I'd still think you're the most gorgeous creature in the world." 2.0 smiled at Rose who, literally, swooned a little.

So the Doctor did the other thing he was extremely good at, and has even been given awards for in over seventy galaxies, give or take, back in his own universe.

He sulked.

* * *

"Oh cheer up." Rose said, handing him a strawberry icing covered biscuit from the plate in the kitchen.

The Doctor looked at the offensive baked treat and said,

"I don't like strawberry. Remember? France 1923?"

"Oh thats right. It's my Doctor who likes it." Rose said, putting it down and passing him a banana from a fruit basket to his right. He wanted to scream, _but I'M your doctor_.

"After you chucked us on that beach, it took us about twenty hours to get home. By bus. Hellish ride let me tell you, and if you remember, freshly regenerated Doctor not exactly easy on the senses. Then his second heart started to beat and I thought he was going through a heart attack. Scared me it did. But no, turns out, he really is a Time Lord after all. And he's not you either. Well, not completely. He's different in all these different ways; talks a lot, but never during life threatening situations, slightly less obnoxious, a lot less overdramatic, likes strawberries...oh and Jackie liked him."

"Jackie didn't like me?" The Doctor asked, head shooting up. "And what do you mean 'liked'? Is Jackie..."

He trailed off, knowing the answer to that question when the dark shadow fell across her brow.

"Alien invasion six years ago. Blocked out the sun for two months...the older folks, they...froze." she said quietly. Without meaning to, the Doctor picked up on an image from her mind, how she had found Jackie, cold, lonely and dead in the big mansion by herself.

"I'm sorry. I'm so..."

"It wasn't your fault." Rose said plainly. She wasn't as upset as he would have thought she would be. Why should she be? She had already spent her grief with the other Him. 2.0 as he will persist to refer to him as.

"Right." he replied. "Right."

"What about you Doctor? What happened in the intervening...month was it?" Rose asked, slightly contemptuously.

"Donna. I had to send her home. Her brain couldn't deal with the consequences of a Time Lord psyche. I had to wipe out everything from our time together...she doesn't remember a thing." he responded, expression shut.

Rose reached over and patted his hand. He turned his palm around and grasped her's.

"I'm sorry I left you. Again. I didn't know...I didn't know what to do. I mean, I've missed you for so long, and then you came back and I just...freaked out. I didn't know what to do with the reality of having you by my side again. That's why I..."

"Hush...you don't have to explain. He told me." she said, grasping his hand tightly, and then letting go. He felt so very bereft the moment he stopped touching her. There was sympathy in her eyes, and even oceans of affection. But the Doctor could see that the frank unconditional adoration she once held for him was gone.

One month.

"He spent twelve years assuring me that you didn't mean to hurt me. Twelve years while our TARDIS grew. While I found out I was un-killable. Also, twelve years of watching him not climb the walls and destroy every electrical appliance my flat while waiting." she said wryly. "Thank God he finally found an acting career for a while playing...well playing himself. Except of course, everyone thought it was science fiction."

"You couldn't have told him sometime during the last few decades not to beat the living daylights out of me when he saw me?" the Doctor joked weakly.

"I didn't think we'd ever see you again." she said frankly. "I wasn't going to try getting back to you. Not after the last time when you practically shoved me out of your ship."

"Sor..."

Rose held her hand up. They looked at each other and smiled, a hint of what had once passed between them. Finally, the Doctor broke the silence, his smile growing sad.

"I suppose there's no place for me here. Not in this life," it wasn't a question. "I had such plans to grovel and beg for you to come back. I was going to rescue you from the clutches of a psychotic Time Lord Human hybrid."

Rose was silent for a minute. And then she said,

"You could always travel with us. Not as a pilot of course. My Doctor...this is his ship. Our ship. But you could travel with us. You've been everywhere in the old universe, why not try something different?"

"And you have a spare screwdriver!" came a muffled yell from outside the kitchen.

"Yes, right." Rose rolled her eyes. "You have a spare sonic screwdriver. He wants that. He thinks you should have at least left him that."

"It's not my world..."

"And its not our's either is it? Though the Time Lords never minded..."

He looked at her, wide eyed.

"They were never destroyed here. Not everyone died. How do you think we can keep going world to world without the universe actually collapsing? There's more of a place here for you, than you think." Rose said, taking his hand again. "And don't you think maybe its time you really stopped running and healed?"

"I think so!" his muffled voice yelled from outside again. Bloody clones.

"I have responsibilities back in the other universe." the Doctor stuttered.

"You can go back anytime you want. the TARDIS is a space and time machine you know?" she coaxed. "it's not like you have someone waiting for you back there now. Donna's gone..."

"No...I suppose not..." he said, looking at her, contemplating.

"Stay. It'd be fun. Three Doctors in the universe. Think of what we can do." his voice said behind him. He turned to see 2.0 with his hands in his pockets, a crooked smile on his face. Bits of lint were stuck in his rumpled hair, and his suit had creases from lying on his back under the console.

He thought for a bit.

"Fine. But only if I get to drive sometimes." he said at last.

Rose beamed and went to stand next to 2.0, who shifted and easily slung his arms around her shoulders, encompassing her in a hug from the back. The Doctor was wrong; 2.0 wasn't being possessive. He didn't need to, when she was so wholly his. He was just comfortably...at home. He felt a pang of regret, for what could have been his. The sting of heartache, realizing he had gained her and lost her again, all at once, for all time. She was no longer his, and it was his own doing after all.

But still. She was here. And she still loved him, the Doctor supposed, in her own fashion.

* * *

So he stayed.

The universe didn't self-destruct.

And for once, he got a happily ever after, more than he ever thought he could deserve. Although he needed some time to get used to not being the boss of the ship.

Sometimes he _did_ get to drive.

* * *

It did eventually come about, after a century or two, when they decided to turn it into a constant threesome in all the ways that counted, which worked incredibly well. The Doctor's took to each other...well as easily as it took one to know one.

Moreover, as it turned out, the Doctor didn't lose Rose for good after all. She fell as deeply in love with him once again, as she did his double.

His earlier fears of losing her, therefore, was really just him being melodramatic.

Again.


End file.
